"A whole bunch of wild goats live in the bushes near there, so it may have been a pet, or it could have been one of those," they said.

According to the spokesperson, police attended for about 20 minutes, during which time they ushered the goat to make sure it didn't go near the road.

"We just ushered it away, so it could jump on its merry way."

This isn't the police's first traffic interfering goat. In 2016, police were forced to taser a goat after it disrupted traffic on State Highway 1 and was eventually cornered in an Oamaru garage by a small dog.